Service-meter apparatus for telephone-exchanges.



PATENTED SEPT. 19, 1905.

0. E. SORIBNER, sEEvIcE METEE APPARATUS FOR TELEPHONE EXCHANGES.

APPLICATION FILED IEB.23,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No- 799,760. PATENTED SEPT. 19, 1905.

. U. E. SGRIBNER. SERVICE METER APPARATUS FOR TELEPHONE EXCHANGES.

APPLIOATION FILED PEB.23.1004.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

fiig. 2, ml

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. SCRIBNER, OF J ERICHO, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR TO ESTER-N ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1905.

Application filed February 23, 1904. Serial No. 194,801.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. SCRIBNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jericho, in the county of Chittenden and State of Vermont, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Service-Meter Apparatus for Telephone-Exchanges, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

My invention relates to service-meter apparatus for telephone-exchanges and its object is in general to provide improved and simplified apparatus and an improved organization of circuits whereby a record may be made of each call from a subscribers station which is answered and the desired connection established at the central office.

2 My invention particularly contemplates a service-meter which will be adapted for use on party-lines and in exchanges where coincollectors, as well as service-meters, are employed as toll devices.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a service-meter apparatus and circuits therefor constructed and organized in accordance with my invention, and I will describe the same particularly by reference to said drawings, reserving for the appended claims a statement of the parts, improvements, or combinations considered to be novel.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating, by means of conventional symbols, the apparatus and circuits of a telephone-line extending from a subscrib ers station to a central office of a telephone-exchange. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the service-meter which is provided at the subscribers station with the con taining case in section. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the service-meter on line 3 3 of'Fig. 2.

The same characters of reference are used to designate the same parts wherever they are shown.

Referring to Fig. 1, the telephone-line extends in two limbs or line conductors 4 5 from the subscribers apparatus S to the central switchboard C, where it is provided with the usual spring-j ack terminals a a. One pole of phone-line is normally open at the central office. The line-relay 0 controls a line-signal lamp 0 in a local circuit.

A portion of the usual operators plug circuit, by which connection is made with the line, is illustrated. The tip and ring contacts of the plug form the terminals of link conductors 6 7, respectively, which are brought into connection with the conductors 5 4, respectively, when the operators plug 1) is inserted in the spring-jack of the telephone-line. At the same time the cut-ofl relay is excited by current in a local circuit 8 in accordance with the usual practice.

The operators supervisory relay 6 is in cluded in the link conductor 6 between the grounded pole of the battery and the tip of the plug. This supervisory relay controls a supervisory lamp 6, as usual.

The plug circuit shown is of the type which is adapted to be used in telephone-exchange systems having coincollectors at the subscribers stations, and is therefore provided with two keys f and g, by which the operator is enabled to actuate the mechanism of the subscribers toll device.

tinuity of conductors 6 7 and connect both the ends thereof leading to the plug with the free pole of a grounded generator G. Similarly, the key 9 when actuated is adapted to break the continuity of the conductors 6 7 and to connect the end of conductors 7 onlyv to the free pole of a grounded generator G, the conductor 6 being simply opened. In practice for systems where coin collectors as well as service-meters are employed the free pole of one of the generators will be positive, while the free pole of the other generatorwill be negative; but this is not necessary for the operation of the service-meter herein described.

The key fis adapted when actuated to break the cona two-step armaturethat is to say, its attractive movement toward the magnetcore is divided into two steps or stages. A contact-spring s is arranged to be engaged by the armature when the same is partially attracted, so that the further attractive movement of the armature will be opposed by the tension of said spring. The initial attractive movement may be opposed simply by the weight of the armature. The pawl O is arranged to engage the ratchetwheel ronly during the final attractive movement of the armature, the initial movement being completed without advancing the counting-train. A manual switch-key 2,, which may control the connection of the service-meter magnet, is associated with said magnet. This switch-key is ada )ted to be set manually, but is arranged to e released in the initial attractive movement of the armature m simultaneously with or shortly after the engagement of the armature with the contact-spring s.

.to the other line conductor 5.

The manual switch may consist of a plunger t, arranged to be operated manually against the tension of a coil-spring t and the armature m may carry a detent m which is adapted to engage a notch or offset of the plunger to latch the same in its actuated position. The pawl m normally rests upon a piece of insulating material i carried by the plunger; but when the plunger is depressed the pawl m comes into electrical contact with the metallic portion thereof at the notch or oilset. The contact thus made serves to complete the connection of a branch 9 from conductor 4 to ground, said branch including the magnet m, the plunger if being connected with said conductor and the magnet being connected between the armature m and ground. The armature m in its initial attractive movement makes contact with the spring 8, which is connected with the other limb 5 of the telephone-line and at the same time or shortly after the switch-key is released, so that the connection of the magnet is thus transferred from one line conductor 4 If the armature goes on and takes the second step to complete its attractive movement, the counting-train Z also will be advanced by the pawl engaging the ratchet-wheel r. The magnet m is wound to respond to currents from the generators G G, but is unresponsive to current from the battery I) of lower electrometive force.

It should be stated that while for convenience of illustration two batteries (marked 6) are shown in the drawings it is understood, of course, that these may be one and the same battery in accordance with the usual practice.

The system. of circuits above described forms no part of the present invention, but is claimed in a divisional application, Serial No.

244,355, filed February 6, 1905.

The operation of the system. is very similar to the operation of the system where coincollectors are employed--such, for example, as the system of Patent No. (565,874, issued January 15, 1901, to A. M. Bullard. Indeed, the working of the system from the central o'flice operators standpoint is identical.

In exchanges where the number of calls from a given station determines the amount to be paid by the subscriber for telephone service the system may be organized upon either of two plans: the subscriber may pay for each call as he makes it by actually depositing a coin in the coin-collector orin place of the coin-collector each call may be recorded upon a register or meter and payment made in a lump sum at the end of a given time for the number of calls recorded. The subscriber should of course be charged for service only when the connection called for is actually obtained, and in the system of the Bullard patent, before referred to, the coincollector receives the coin provisionally, and the operator may by pressing the proper one of two keys bring about the actuation of the mechanism to return the coin to the subscriber or deposit it in the cash-box, according to circumstances.

It is sometimes desirable that an exchange be equipped partially with call-recording devices and partially with coin-collectors, as subscribers may prefer. It may be that a party-line will have some of its substations equipped with coin-collectors, while other substations of the same line will have servicemeters instead.

Lines of such difi'ering character are frequently grouped together indiscriminately at the central-office switchboard, and the operator, who must do the work of establishing.

and taking down connections almost mechanically, should not be burdened with the mental effort of distinguishing between lines having different classes of toll devices. It is an especial advantage of the servicemeter apparatus of the present invention that it may be used in systems where coin-collectors are also employed, such as the system of the Bullard patent, without requiring any difl'erent apparatus at the central o'ffice or any dif ferent action by the operator.

The call is transmitted to the central office in the Bullard system by the subscriber depositing a coin in the toll-box. In the res ent system the call is transmitted by the subscriber actuating his manual switch-key t. The ellect in either case is to cause the display of a line-signal at the central o'llice to which the operator responds by plugging into the spring-jack of the calling-line. The

operation of the toll device is then determined by two keys in the operators plug- ITO 7 mg the registerlng-tram.

circuit. If the desired connection is ob tained, the chargekey is depressed, which in the case of the coin-collector causes the coin to be deposited in the cash-box and in the case of the servicemeter causes the call to be recorded upon a register. If for any reason no charge is to be made, as where thedesired connection cannot be established, the operator actuates the release-key, which in the case of the coin-collector causes the coin to be returned to the subscriber and in the case of the service-meter causes the mechanism to be restored without actuating the register.

To describe the operation of the system of this invention more in detail, it will be seen that depressing the switch-key t at the subscribers station will complete a branch circuit 9 to earth from limb 4 of the telephoneline. A circuit is thus completed from the central battery I), through the line-relay c and over conductors 4 and 9 to earth, whereby the line-relay is excited and causes the display of the line-signal lamp 0. The magnet m of the servicemeter, although included in this circuit, does not respond to current from the batery b. -The switch-key t being once depressed is latched in its actuated position by the pawl m carried by the armature m of the magnet. The operator answers the call by plugging into the springjack (1 of the line, as usual, and at the proper time, which is preferably after the discon nectsignal is received at the end of the conversation, depresses one or the other of the keysf g, according to circumstances. If no charge is to be made, the key 9 will be de pressed, which will cause the armature of the subscribers service-meter magnet to take only the initial step of its attractive movement, releasing the switch 15, but not actuat- If a charge is to be entered, the key)" will be depressed, and this will bring about a complete attractive movement of the armature m instead of the mere half-step, and the registering-train Z will be advanced to record the connection, the switch If being also released.

The control of the keys f 9 over the subscribers service-meter is as follows: The key g applies current from generator 9 to the limb 4 of the line, and this current flows to earth through the branch 9, containing the magnet m, said branch being closed by the contact between the pawl m and the plunger t of the switch. The magnet will therefore be excited; but the armature in taking the first step in its attractive movement with draws the detent m from engagement with the offset on the plunger, whereby the plunger is released and returned to its normal position by spring 15 the connection of the magnet with conductor 4 being thus broken. The armature is now in contact with spring 8, and

the connection of the magnet m is thus transferred to the other side of the telephone-line; but current having been applied by key 9 to the limb 4 only the magnet m is no longer energized, but permits its armature m to drop back before the pawl 0 has advanced the registering-train.

When the key f is depressed, current from the generator G is applied to both conductors 4 5, so that although the first step in the movement of themagnet-armature breaks the connection of the magnet with conductor 4 the magnet will receive current from conductor 5 by way of contact-spring 8. Under these conditions the armature m will complete its attractive movement and advance the registering-train by means of the pawl 0 and the ratchet-wheel 1". It will thus be seen that the magnet is adapted to be connected progressively with different actuatingcircuits by switching mechanism controlled by its own armature and that a movement of said armature through one or more steps may be brought about byapplying current to one or more of said actuating-circuits.

I claim 1. A service-meter comprising a registering-train, an electromagnet and an armature provided with a pawl for'advancing said registering-train, in combination with a manual switch-key and a detent controlled by said armature adapted to latch said switch in its actuated position, said detent being moved to release the switch in the movement of said armature.

2. The combination with an electromagnet and a two-step armature therefor, of a manual switch-key, an automatic latch for I said switch-key arranged to be moved to release said key by the initial attractive-movement of said armature, and a registeringtrain connected with said armature and arranged to be advanced in the final attractive movement thereof.

3. The combination with a service-meter having a counting-train, step-by-step mechanism for advancing said train and an electromagnet and armature for actuating said mechanism, of a switch-key adapted for manual operation and a latch for said switch-key controlled by said electromagnet.

4. In a service-meter, the combination with a counting-train, of an electromagnet having an armature and means actuated by a complete attraction of said armature for advancing said counting-train, a manual switch-key, and a latch for said switch-key controlled by said armature, said latch being withdrawn to release the switch-key in the initial movement of said armature, before the counting-train is advanced.

5. The combination with a registeringtrain, of an electromagnet and an armature therefor, a pawl actuated by said armature, adapted to advance said registering-train in the final attractive movement thereof, the

initial attractive movement of the armature In Witness whereof I hereunto subscribe being independent of said registeringtrain, my name this 20th day of January, A. D. a manual switch-key and a detent carried by 1904.

said armature adapted to latch said switch- CHARLES E. SCRIBNER. key in its actuated position, said detent be- \Vitnesses: ing moved to release said key in the initial CHAS. A. PETERSEN,

attractive movement of said armature. E. R. SKINNER. 

